Search form

You are here

D2L Course Export and Backing up Select Student Data

D2L semester courses more than two years old and inactive development/community courses may be removed from the system on a recurring basis. There will be official communication sent to affected individuals prior to any purge. See D2L Retention Policies for more detail. The following information explains how to backup content and user data for future reference. The items are prioritized to help you decide which student records are most important for you to retain.

Important Records to Save

Content

Exporting your course will create a compressed zip file of the content and settings. No user data is saved in a course export. When the export is finished, click on the link to download the file. This file can be imported back into a D2L course in order to restore all of the content. Keep in mind that only course files are overwritten when importing content and all other items are added to the existing content. This may cause duplication in some areas so it is best to import into a new (blank) course.

Gradebook

When the export is finished, click on the link to download the file. The CSV file is preferred if you need to import scores back to Grades at a future time.

Dropbox Submissions

Assessments > Dropbox > (Title of Dropbox)From the Dropbox Folders list, note if there are items in the “Total Files” column and click on the dropbox title. Scroll down and click the top checkbox to select all items. Then click Download. When the export is finished, click on the link to download the zip file. After extracting the files, you will see all submissions saved by student name and date.

Other Records to Consider Saving

Note: If there is no download option, you can often copy and paste the information into Word.

Discussion Posts

Communication > DiscussionsThere is no direct way to download discussion posts but you can get a nice printable view by using the print option while in grid view.

First go to the Discussions Settings (upper right gear icon), change the Default View to Grid view, and click Save. Then click on a discussion topic and check the first box to select all. If you change the view to “All Posts” and Apply, you can use the pull-down menu to display more items per page before selecting. Click “Print” for a display of the selected posts. Click Print again and change the printer destination to save as PDF, or copy and paste to Word for an electronic copy.

Quiz Data

D2L does not have a user friendly view of exported quiz data but you may find some of the options below have value if you need to save data. Contact the helpdesk for potential solutions to converting the exported data into a more usable form.

Assessments > Quizzes > Statistics (third option over at the top)To save a list of Quiz Averages, highlight the table, copy, and paste as text to Excel.

User Activity Reports

It could be useful to save specific activity details for students who may be contesting a grade. Use the first option below to see a user’s detailed access report. Other reports may be of use to you during the semester or for record saving.

Course Mail

You can forward individual email messages from D2L to another address for saving long term. While in Message Preview, click on “Forward,” type your email address in the To field, and click Send. Messages can be sent out from D2L but they cannot be sent in from outside the system.

Additional Support

Need Help?

The DLS Help Desk supports the research and information needs of students, faculty, and staff. The DLS Help Desk is available for D2L help and any technical issues or problems when trying to access library electronic resources.